


Winterstuck

by megidoverit (rarefiednight)



Category: Homestuck
Genre: Friendship, Gen, Kids, M/M, NYCstuck, Winterstuck, beta kids - Freeform
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2013-12-27
Updated: 2013-12-27
Packaged: 2018-01-06 09:32:52
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,319
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1105224
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/rarefiednight/pseuds/megidoverit
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>The beta kids do winter things in NYC. John and Dave are cute and awkward.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Winterstuck

**Author's Note:**

  * For [bonebits](https://archiveofourown.org/users/bonebits/gifts).



> I hope you like it! I know you asked for romance and it was headed more in that direction but I got caught up in the beta kids' dynamic. Beta Kids as a pale OT4 ship? I tried to emphasize the JohnDave, though. I might add more chapters at a later date for more romance, yeah? I really hope you like it!

“Christmas!” Jade cries excitedly as she skips ahead of you, Rose, and John as the four of you wander down 42nd Street. She pauses, wrinkling her nose in the direction of the Salvation Army bellringer on the corner. “Seeing those used to make me feel so Christmas-y,” she says, rejoining the rest of you. “Now that I know where that money goes, not so much.” 

“Mmmmm,” you hum, giving the guy the side-eye as you pass. “You know what someone should do? Should set up a charity that intentionally goes out and like, sets up blue bins just like theirs _right next to_ the Salvation Army buckets only they’d be called like the Big Fat Gay Hanukkah Charity and would just do everything possible to piss the Salvation Army off as much as possible and they’d have signs out around the Salval dudes so people know where the money goes if they donate there. Huge fun and a noble cause.” You pause for air, this having all come out in one long rambling breath. 

“That seems like a logistical nightmare,” Rose comments, but you can see the corner of her mouth tipping up and she’s repressing a smirk, which for Rose (when she’s not in the presence of Kanaya, or alcohol) is practically laughter. Just at that moment, you come fully past the New York Public Library and the little winter village thing at Bryant Park, your destination, comes into view. Jade basically squeals and leaps forward in excitement, but you look over at John, who has practically lit up from within. 

“Christmas,” he intones, eyes aimed at you, his voice almost reverent, then a huge grin breaks across his face. “Christmas!” You have the urge to just grin back at his happy doofusy smile but you maintain your Strider poker face. 

As the four of you wait for the walk sign, John shifts back and forth on his feet excitedly. It is possibly the most adorable thing you’ve ever witnessed, but you try to suppress this thought by resuming what you had been doing on the subway ride over, which was teasing Jade about Karkat. 

“It’s nothing!” she insists again, blushing furiously. Apparently the universe takes pity on her plight, as just then the light changes and John grabs your hand excitedly and tows you into the road. You can’t suppress your own blush now, and you can just feel Rose’s eyes on your back and the fact that she is _totally_ smirking at you right now. This thing between you and John is still weird, and new, and you’re trying to figure out how to navigate it. You don’t need Miss Psychologist butting into your love life, even if her advice is usually (always) useful. 

As you enter the little Christmas village full of tiny niche shops (all of which seem ridiculously overpriced to you, but okay) you and Rose trail behind John and Jade, who are both aglow with excitement and want to examine everything. Mostly it’s Jade who rushes you from shop to shop, buying Christmas resents for her far-flung family, but both Rose and John also have a few things that make them stop everyone to examine. You shiver in a little bit of horror and retreat to the other side of the stand Rose is buying macarons (Kanaya’s favorite, apparently) at when you notice the stall you’re standing in front of is full of puppets, 

You’re pretty sure you’re never going to be warm again by the time Jade has gotten everything she wanted and neither John nor Rose sees anything else interesting. 

“We should probably go get in line for skating now if we want to do it,” Jade says. 

“I am cold,” you announce. “I need something of the hot liquid variety inside my stomach like now or my toes may possibly just fall off.” 

“Your toes aren’t going to _fall off_ , Dave!” Jade replies, but admits that she, too, is cold and could stand for a warm beverage. John drapes an arm around you, and despite your trepidation about public displays of affection you press against his side. Kid is so warm he’s like your own personal space heater. 

“Apple cider,” you tell them, and lead the way to a booth you’ve been eyeing for most of the evening. You all buy cups of the hot cider, which you sip gladly, although John’s arm (still wrapped around your shoulders) has somewhat alleviated your warmth problem. Apples are truly the best beverage makings, in your humble opinion. And by your humble opinion you mean absolutely one hundred percent true, screw what anyone else says. 

“Excuse us! Coming through! Please make space!” someone calls, and you all turn around. You’re not in the way, so you stay where you are as you watch a group of EMTs carry a stretcher through. It looks as if the guy on it must have been skating and fell down and gotten injured in some way. 

“Uh, skating?” Jade asks with less enthusiasm than previously when the EMTs are gone, and you wind your way around to the other side of the ice rink where the entrance is. John stops short when he sees the line. 

“That looks long,” he says. 

“Yes,” you say. 

“Do we really want to wait in it?” he asks. 

“It’s cold,” you say. 

“Also, the ice appears to be extremely crowded,” Rose observes. “It is likely we would end up separated, or one of us might get injured as that man was. I would certainly not think it pleasant to be run down, however accidentally, by people in ice skates while on the ground.” 

“Also, it’s fifteen dollars,” you point out. 

“Yeah, um, maybe not,” Jade agrees. “How about let’s not and say we did.” 

“Agreed,” Rose says 

“Let’s not and, like, _actually_ say we did,” John says. “Let’s actually tell people we did. Wait, wait! Everyone make a circle.” He grabs your hand, and warmth shoots through it, although you think to yourself that you are horribly cliché and that him just touching your hand shouldn’t make you feel so giddy. Your other hand is already occupied by hot cider, so Rose sort of awkwardly wraps her hand around your wrist. 

“Okay, everyone close your eyes,” John instructs, and you do, although somewhat dubiously. “Okay. We are on the ice. Picture it. Can you picture it? Okay. We are skating. Woohoo.” 

“Look at me go,” you say. “I am like so very rad at this ice skating thing.” 

“Eeeeep!” Jade squeaks. “I’m sticking to the wall. I’m not very good at this.” 

“I wish there was more space so I could do some jumps,” Rose says. 

“I’m pretty good at this! Sort of! I haven’t fallen over yet!” John says. “Wait, oh no, shoot, where’d you guys go? I think I’ve lost you. Oh god.” 

“Aw, shit, where are you? Oh, oh, I see you, dude. I’m coming, The Strider has found you, worry not. I am your knight on goddamn shiny ice skates,” you say. 

“I feel like that’s enough skating for today,” Jade says. “Are you guys tired? I’m tired.” 

“Likewise; it is quite claustrophobic out here,” Rose says. She let’s go of your wrist, and you open your eyes just as she does. “Now, that was a lovely experience, wasn’t it?” 

You’re quite aware that John has let go of Jade’s wrist, but his hand is still clutched warmly in yours. 

“Right, yeah, plenty of hecka rad skating all up in here,” you say, distracted by the feeling of his thumb rubbing circles across the back of your hand. Rose and Jade are both smirking in your direction, but despite the redness you can feel in your cheeks you keep a tight hold of John’s hand, squaring your shoulders and puffing your slender frame up a bit. 

“Well, now we’ve done ice skating,” you say. “What’s next?”


End file.
